


Education

by queermoraghid (TheDoctorIsIcecube)



Series: Torna: The Golden Flufftry [4]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Dad Jin is best Jin, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 14:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15632562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/queermoraghid
Summary: Jin and Malos attempt to get Mikhail interested in studying something.





	Education

When Jin came in from running errands and reconnaissance that day, he was greeted with a sight that definitely surprised him. Malos had been training Mikhail to better control his powers on and off for the last week, but this was definitely something else entirely. Malos was sat at the makeshift desk with Mikhail, both of them in front of a book.

“Hi,” he said, eyeing the scene in front of him with a mixture of surprise and amusement. “What’s going on here?” 

“Malos said I need to learn things,” Mikhail said, not sounding overly pleased about it. “Things that aren’t to do with swords.”

“I agree with Malos,” he said. He remembered very clearly Lora’s own resistance to learning things when she had been a child. He probably hadn’t pushed as hard on that one as he should have, finding it a lot easier to teach her combat. “Swords can’t control everything.”

“If I point my fans at someone, they’re gonna do what I say,” Mikhail said. He had a point, but Jin just rolled his eyes and came to sit down next to the other two. 

“That only works for people who don’t have their own weapons to point back at you, Mik. Now come on, tell me what Malos has been teaching you.”

“Maths,” Mikhail said, pulling a face. “Numbers are boring. They don’t have any use! I know what money is already and I don’t need to do all these fancy things with numbers.”

“What if you decide to do something else with them?” Jin asked. “Numbers can help you grasp a sense of scale and understand logistics.”

Mikhail faked a very overdramatic yawn. Jin just gave him an unimpressed look until he stopped grinning and started looking a little sheepish. “Fine,” he conceded. “I’ll do the maths. It’s not that hard anyway.” That didn’t surprise Jin much. Mikhail was a smart kid, even if he didn’t seem to use his intelligence for all that much.

Unwarranted, his mind drifted back to happier times, with Mikhail trailing him like a shadow. The people who flitted in and out of their camps always assumed that he just didn’t understand what was going on, and that he wasn’t intelligent enough to foster any independence. But Jin had always known that Mik was standing by him because he knew that was where he was safest. Mikhail hadn’t had the best start in life, and as such he’d developed a survival instinct far better than that of most kids his age. 

He blinked, drifting back to reality. Mikhail had his head down over a book of maths problems that Malos had procured from Architect-knew-where, and he was solving them pretty damn fast. Jin’s heart twinged with something close to pride before something else occurred to him.

Mikhail was bright, and anywhere else, he would have endless success in the future. But that was if he had a normal life, with a family, and without a core crystal forcibly resonated into his body. He couldn’t have that good life with rewards for his talents here. Jin felt a swell of anger at whoever had done this to him, and then a surge of something else- determination, maybe? He was going to do whatever it took to make sure Mikhail grew up happy, core crystal or not. And he was not going to let Mikhail come to the same fate as Lora. He would learn from his mistakes, and give this kid as much happiness as he could. 

Funnily enough, when he was done, Mikhail didn’t complain about the maths problems again. Maybe it was his confusion that had caused him to get frustrated at it, or maybe it had just been token resistance, but Jin made a mental note to keep up with teaching him things. He had definitely taken Mikhail’s future for granted by just focusing on the past and present. 

“You’re pretty good at this sort of thing, kid,” Jin said with a smile. “Is there anything you actually like learning about, other than weaponry?” Mikhail wrinkled his nose immediately, shaking his head. Jin laughed. “Come on, you can’t tell me you hate everything you’ve ever learned.”

Mik shrugged. “I haven’t learned about much stuff,” he said. “But machines are cool. I don’t know if I’d like learning about them, though. They look complicated and I’m not great with complicated.”

“You like engineering?” Malos leaned over, interested all of a sudden. “Think I saw a book on that on the shi- crappy bookshelf they have by the bar downstairs. Probably not suitable for kids, but I guess it’s worth a look.”

“You can say shit,” Mikhail said with a small grin. Jin tried not to be disappointed, but he was mostly just angry that Mik had been exposed to all of that. Lora had been the same, of course, but children...you didn’t talk to kids like that if you were anyone good.

“Hm,” Malos grunted, and stood up, presumably to go fetch this engineering book. Jin rested a hand on Mikhail’s shoulder, deciding to take this few moments to have a word with Mikhail. 

“You shouldn’t swear, you know. Even if you know the words.” Mikhail opened his mouth to protest, but Jin cut him off. “That’s not my main point, though. Really, I just wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you, kid. Really proud.” 

Mikhail immediately ducked his head and looked away, his shoulders slightly hunched. He didn’t manage to say anything in response, but Jin knew that he appreciated it from the smile he caught on Mikhail’s face whenever he looked over for the rest of the day and the boy’s sheer determination when attempting to read the heavy book he’d been given.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, if you enjoyed, a comment is appreciated :)


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